It should be no surprise that marketing plays a huge role in the success of any business. You can have the most innovative, potentially valuable idea for a product or service but if the marketing misses its mark, you still won’t find an audience for it. So, what if it is missing that mark? Here, we’re going to look at a few of the most common reasons that might be the case and what you can do about it.

The brand story isn’t right

All marketing begins with one thing: the brand story. Or at least it should begin with that. If you haven’t created a brand story, now’s the time to do so. Otherwise, you need to reinvestigate it and ask if it’s truly the right one. The brand story should represent the mantra of the business, both for the team itself and the customers. Successful brand stories can be built from the endeavor to solve a certain problem your customers face, for instance. They can also be about a certain lifestyle or goal and how your business helps the market reach it. It can even about a certain niche in the market and how you help make certain solutions available to them when they’re otherwise underserved. Investigate your brand storytelling and ensure you have the mantra that’s most likely to resonate emotionally with the customers.

It’s inconsistent

Once you have that story, you have to make sure you stick to it. You can evolve a brand over time, but it needs to be close to its roots to maintain that emotional resonance. The same goes for the visuals your business uses, too. Weebly takes a look at brand style guides, also known as brand bibles, and how they can always ensure that your marketing and content stays consistent. Using the same colors, fonts, and style of visual elements establishes a branding core that makes it easier for customers to recognize at a moment’s notice.

You’re not using the right platforms

How you deliver that story and whatever offers you’re making can be just as important as the stories and offers themselves. If you’re not a marketing expert, you need to admit that. You have knowledge of your market and your services and marketing teams like Glenmont Consulting have knowledge of the different platforms and strategies. Those different skill sets and knowledge bases need to be combined. You might be missing certain platforms that your market is much more likely to be active on or a platform that is more suited to communicating the strengths of your brand. For instance, lifestyle industries like fashion and food benefit tremendously from using visual platforms like Instagram or Pinterest. Do your research and make sure you’re not missing the best possible platform for your message.

You’re not developing relevant content

Content marketing has become one of the hot-button topics in online branding as of late. Writing professional, informed content on topics related to your products or services that your audience cares about can be hugely valuable. It can be a great way to gather interest and direct traffic to your site or to keep existing customers returning time and time again. However, many businesses write content that’s relevant to themselves, but not necessarily their audience. Think of your market and think of what value every piece of new content adds to them. Is it informative? Is it newsworthy? Is it educational? Is it helpful? Ask these questions of every single piece of content you write.

You’re not connecting with the community

Perhaps you’re winning customers over but you’re just not able to keep them with your current marketing strategy. The online world, in particular, is a highly social one. Customers will not only support brands financially, but they will follow them and converse with them. You might already have social media accounts but if you’re not replying to customers and joining in conversations, you could be missing the opportunity to turn them into real brand fans. Tools like Hootsuite make it much easier to follow certain conversations, manage your replies, and keep a consistent stream of social media posts so that your audience doesn’t feel abandoned or like they’re not being given the time of day.

You’re ignoring the problem children

Every single business that sets foot in the online world is going to deal with complaints, negative reviews, and even a little scandal or outrage. Time and time again it has been proven that ignoring the problem only makes it worse. It makes customers believe that you’re not willing to respond even to feedback that could be legitimate. You need to have a strategy that addresses complaints online. Get in touch with problem customers directly and see whether or not their complaints are legitimate. If they leave a public complaint or negative review, let them know publicly that you’re addressing it then get in touch in private. If you’re in the wrong, admit fault and make amends. Customers are a lot more willing to show praise and support for a company that admits it did something wrong and takes steps to correct it than one that never made a single mistake.

You’re marketing in a vacuum

If you haven’t done your research on your competition, you could be in trouble. Infoentrepreneurs gives some sound advice on how to better follow your competitors and you should be doing so for a couple of reasons. For one, you could be missing out on key marketing messages that they have got right that you haven’t. You can also use them as a base to differentiate your branding enough that you stand out. Finally, if you fail to research your competitors, you might miss out on the fact that you could be using exactly the same kind of branding and marketing tactics of them. If they’re more established and well-known, this makes it look like you’re copying them because you have no ideas of your own.

Don’t be afraid to start from the beginning if your branding and marketing have been a complete failure. Sometimes, re-branding and starting from the top can be easier than winning customers over to a brand that has been miscommunicated, misused, and misrepresented. Hopefully, the tips above can help you start off on better footing.